UB faculty had earlier voiced concerns on spending

The University of Baltimore faculty had voiced concerns about how the university was spending its money long before the dean of the law school publicly aired allegations over funding when he was forced to resign last week.

In a report to UB President Robert L. Bogomolny in February, the faculty senate said it felt too much money was being spent on institutional costs and not enough on faculty salaries and teaching. The report, which was an analysis of expenditures, said that enrollment by degree-seeking students was more than double the increase in teaching faculty from 2004 to 2010. While enrollment rose by more than 30 percent, the teaching faculty rose by less than 10 percent.

UB also had one of the lowest percentage expenditures on instruction and academic support of any of the universities and colleges in the University System of Maryland, and one of the highest percentages spent on administration.

"We do feel there is an imbalance, but we are continuing to work with the university's administration to correct that imbalance," said Odeana R. Neal, chair of the university faculty senate. The conversation over how much institutional costs have risen is going on at many universities across the country. "We are not unique in that struggle," she said.

Neal said the president agreed to increase the faculty significantly and has removed some administrative slots from this year's budget.

Forty new faculty positions will be created in the next five years, Chris Hart, a spokesman for Bogmolny and the UB administration, said in an email. "The president is working with Professor Neal and other leaders of UB shared governance groups to increase budget transparency and understanding. The faculty senate report is unrelated to the law school," Hart said.

Last week, Phillip Closius, the dean of the UB law school, contended that the president was siphoning cash away from the law school to fund other programs throughout the university. Closius claimed that 45 percent of the law school revenues were used elsewhere by the university in 2010-2011.

The facts that Closius presented to support his contention were immediately rebutted by the president in an angry letter to faculty earlier this week.

Some students and faculty had criticized Bogmolny for asking Closius, a popular figure who had led the school for four years, to resign.

"I can tell you that from what I have read in the press, it appears that the law faculty is all up in arms. All of the law faculty is not up in arms," said Neal, who is an associate professor of the law school. However, she said, those who are upset are "really up in arms."

The president will report back to the community on steps that are being taken to address the issues in the faculty report, according to Hart.